Vertically-striped seamless hosiery.



E. A. HIRNBR. VERTIOALLY STRIPED SEAMLESS HOSIERY.

APPLICATION FILED MAR, 22, 1907 1,062,910. Patented May 27, 191? ZTIGI B. A. HIRNER.

VERTIUALLY STEIPED SEAMLESS HOSIERY.

PPPPP GS'ZION FILED MAR 22 1907 1,062,910. Patented May 27,1913.

EEEEEEEEEEEE T 2 WITNESSESI vTo:

E. A. HIRNER.

VERTICALLY STRIPED SEAMLESS HOSIERY.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 22, 1907.

L,O62,910. Patented May 27,1913.

4 SHEETSSHEET 3 l Ff 112K FIGM wlTwgssEsz EW/{F E. A. HIRNER. VBRTlGALLY s'rmnn sum-ms HOSIBRY. APPLICATION FILED MAR 22, 1907v Patented May 27, 1913.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4 UNITED STATTENT ()FFIC-E Y EMIL A. HIE-KER. OF ALLENTO'WN, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNGE TO NOVELTY HOSIEBY COMPANY, A CSRPDRATIGH OF PENNSYLVANIA,

-WICALLY-STRIFED SEMLESS HQSIERY.

nmm w. .v g I Specification of Lettsrs Eatent.

lai'euimi Hay 191.3.

' Appiicatiou Med Harsh 22. N62.

fi 2 5 7111'71'? if 11m aem Z avoid 'these fluids i produve' vex-tn' zi i stripes 5.3 Be it knuwnthal I, EMU, A. Hugrzm. f in seamless hosie'iTTix plating operatiqn. Lxflm'ltnmn in the county of Lehigh and mating is awellknmm method of ignitting State 121' Eennspxhmfla, imxc invented cerby which twoibreads are fed in the needles train new and useful Ix'nprowlmmts in Ver simuiianeousl'y, hut in such relation to eavh I ti ::1'1y-SU-ipd Ileamless Hosiery, whereof other that one consianfiy passes to the face 69 {n0 fulluwing a specification. reference beof the knitting and uppww (hex-e \vhiie the inf: bad m the a-acumpanying drawings. other passes to the hawk of ihe knitting. My in'vmtion relates in the striping 01' The thread whirh lien mn the face of the. i0 nuaiugons figuring of seanfless; hosiery, fabric is called the pizli'ing yarn, and the wherein the entire tnbular' portion of the M1191 the body zzrn. The idea} vertically dtiri'kihfi knit by a (-ontinnous rotary m0- stri'gwd seamlebs stocking wmfid be one in than. fivifl; immtiam ofheel and we poi-lids which styipe are flamed by the regular 4 knifiting the stocking or c0invid nt inversion 0f 13w dating yarn and hgcgd bgigg iiiy body yarn cmu's'c aft? course at inwrmls 'n arm-apt he hoping inquired h; rnspk$nding i0 {he vi ic'lih the stripes; in 71':

H g mnchin m: other types of uni-chine My, i'

Man's hm webbing may be pmduusll m: back of n Win0 ashmned hosiery may be made in a can A. 0 we resuming p rduut E {Emmi difi ant. and is commercizfll i .icis fawn striped manned he: 4 0' smnfieas hosiery I'fiClJlllfi-i!) if) aha rapid alierndtion of iv;

nn'illcm'iy rroursv after 0" z: ;y w in produce cuniinuous ss he abia of the limiting during i :i which iiv: he whim-(inn to hosiery Unis paw" j ih'rmul n; fing v, m? is i'im'ii the PHUE'L interim of the 0c Hi floated Y n, fiihwl WM: a 111333 or scaffold as; f :0!" Wales int ai -a2. H'artnds, 'nnivh are objectimmfnle in simvking "very 1 i zpg'mzu'ameq v7x1 muii h-snnw when the sic-whiz]; :zsinns 1m 1m 11 the stash @n if cfit 05 by a. span-1:? 7 m with. the w-king is Emil, pun w; (uhsw ilae' flocking kmw -5- i 3mm Eu app:-

1 If Jed samnless threads 1;, 5i yin phi u izvsiery 30- i upon my he aggrw Q knnfimg must be so great in proportion to the aggregate width of the wales of plain knitting across which the plating -thread is floated, as to maintain without substantial impairment the lateral elasticity of the stocking, and

that within the limitations of this plan a large and pleasing variety of striping can be produced.

I am awar that knit fabric has heretoore been produced containing vertical stripes formed by the alternation of wales of plated knitting with other miles across which the plating thread is floated, for example as shown ,in German Patent No. 44,174, to ax Stephan, but as heretofore produced such fabric has embodied stripes produced by floating the plating thread, which are as broad or broader than those produced by the plating of the two threads. Under these circumstances the fabric thus produced is so inelastic that such fabric not only never has been, but could not be practically employed in the manufacture ofa stocking; and so far as I am aware no such laterally elastic vertically striped lated fabric with short floats as employed y me has ever been produced for any purpose.

' .A problem which itwas necessary for me to so VP in order to secure this roduct was to produce the short floats within the limitationsof a stocking knitter. To produce these the plating yarn must knit for a certain number of needles, then skip-one or two needles, andbe again thrown into the knitting. No diiiiculty is involved in an ordinary circular latch needle machine in so manipulating theneedles as to withdraw a thread from the knitting for a series of me dies and then return it to the knitting provided the interval be not too short but owing to limitations which are well known to practical knitters, it is diflicult to cause a thread to skip one or two needles only for it involves the thread pursuing a zig zag course among the needles, which'in a stocking knitter is diflicult to secure. By the process of knitting which I will now describe I have accomplished the result of producin perfectlaterally elastic seamless stripe l hosiery, without noticeable {4r objectionable floats, with broad plated stripes alternating with narrow unplated stripes where the body yarn only is knit while the plating yarn is floated.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure I, represents diagrammatically seamless halfhose embodying my invention in. a simple form in which the narrow two-Wale stripes are formed at equal distances around the tubular web. Fi II, is a diagrammatic section along the line II, II, of Fig. I. Fig.v

.method of striping which I 'a cred clock.

plan with the variation that certain of thcl stripes are three-Wale stripes and others are 5 one-wale stripes Fig. V, is a section along the line V, V, of Fig, IV. Fig. VI, is an enlarged view of a iece of-the tubular web to illustrate the Formation of the stripe. Fig. VII, illustrates hosiery in, which the now de-- scribing is employed, not for the urpose of producing striped hosiery in the ordinaryuse of the term, but for the purpose of producing two narrow and limited stripes, one on either side of the leg portion of the stocking, which simulate the ordinary embroid- F i VIII, is a section alon the line VIII, V II, in Fig. II. I15 is an enlarged illustration of a piece of a tubular web to illustrate the formation of the clock. Fig. X, is a diagrammatic de velopment of the positions of the needles and threads as operated according to my process of knitting for the production of striped hosiery. F1 XI, is a plan view on an enlarged scale 0 a. snail portion of the circle of needles an; which 111 invention is practised showing how I am a le-to manipulate them to roduce the short floats. Figs. XILand X II, are similar:- enlar ed views of the needles as they are operate -in practising my process.

Referring to Fig. I, it will be seen that I have there illustrated an ordinary seamless stocking of the type known as half hose. The stockingds produced with a ribbed top 1, a-leg portion 2, formed by continuous rotary knitting, a heel pocket 3, formed by reclprocatory knitting pnd'fashioned in the usual wa a foot portion 4, and toe pocket 5, forme as is the heel pocket 3, and looped to the top of the foot along the line 6. It is a structural peculiarity of seamless hosiery that, although the thread may be changed or reinforced as the knitting proceeds. yet it is possible to knit the entire stocking (omitting the ribbed top), from a single continuous or unbroken, thread, the change from circular to reciprocatory knitting and back again not necessarily involving any change in or break of the thread. The stocking shown in the drawing may,

iopl

therefore, be considered as formed of a single'body yarn 10, and inthediagrammatic section which forms Fig. II, the continuous operation of this thread is indicated by the unbroken circle 10. A second or plating thread 11, is employed in practising my invention, being plated with the body yarn forthe production of the broad.-

stripes 12, and floated behind th body yarn for the production of the narrow stripes 13; This ap e for the Imoad stripes, and inside itfor the ars in Fig. II, outside the yarn 10,

narrow stripes, which device however, is

merely a conventional way of illustrating what is more clearly shown in Fig. III

where the position of the yarns is more accurately depicted showing that in thebroad stripes the plating yarn is knit with but lies over the body yarn so as to be visible upon the face of the fabric. while for thenarrow tri'pes it passes out of the knitting and runs invisibly behind the body yarn in the form of short floats 15. I will now describe the process of knitting by which I have accom- 'plished this result.

ln'knitting with latch needles the series of needles are caused to successively move up and down with a wave-like motion under the influence of cams acting upon the needles, but the means by vsfhich the needles are caused to thus operate have nothing to do with my process. As a means of accon plishing the result which I have described, two additional factors are introduced, first, certain of the needles corresponding in position to the narrow stripes, are withheld from the temporary advance which is given to all the other needles rior to their stitchtorining depression, an second, the plating thread is fed to the needles in advance of the point where the body thread is fed and at a flatter angle. As a result the threads and needles occupy the positions in relation to each other during the knitting operation indicated in Fig. X. In this diagram the ordinary needles '20 at the left of the drawing have advanced to the thread rcceiving level. They are depressed by the stitch cams along the lines 22, and 23, to form the stitch. They are again advanced to the normal level along the line 24. ()n

the other hand, the needlds 25, by which the,

narrow stripes are to be formed (wiich I. will call the special needles), do not receive the preliminary advance, but enter the knitting operation at a level represented by the dottedline 26, which reaches a point where all of the needles act in unison about in the middle of the stitch forming descent of the other needles.

The plating am 30, is fed at the point 31, passing on er the hooks of the needles and ultimately entering the knit web at the point 32. At the point Where this thread is fed to the needle the special needles are depressed below it and consequently they do not receive the plating; yarn under their hooks. l urthcrmnrc, this point 31 for the feeding of, the plating yarn. is for enough in advance of the knitting to allow the plating yarn to be wrapped tightly against the upright inner edge of the hook of each of the ordinary needles, before they are brought in line with the special needles. Consequently, when the plating yarn reaches the gap or space corresponding to the two special needles which have not been advanced, it is'drawn ti htly across between them so as to form-s. (2 0rd of an arc. At this point two speeial needlestili but at a levei below the thread. other needles ;-nd they carry the plating to en this yarn.

contact with it. in con. hit-nee of w no, the

cur ed tops 0% the hooks or these special needles come into contact with it at apoint behind thei sun-unit, so thetj'itpasses not intront or, but behind the ecnri needles,

and the plating yarn nercr en 9 s the hooks of these latter needles. The body yarn S fed from the point 35 neercnthe knitting than the other threzichsnd enters the knit ting; in the usmrhwey being received by both sets of needle am aware of the process of knitting which is described lcrnmn Patent- No. 94,884, to Sturg This diilcrs from niiiie in the relative position in which the plating yarn is fed to the needles and in the order in which the needles are nnxnipnluted, the result being that the plating thread lies under the top of the heck of the nlntingncedles as they are drawn down to the level of the other needles, in consequence of which it difficult to induce the plating thread to always tall behind the non-plating needles. since it comes into contact. with their curved tops almost in the middle, that is to say, almost at their highest point, so that thereis very little to assist its choice in favor of the back oi these nee les rather than the front, in respect. to which point a mistoko spoils the pattern. f

In Fig. Xi, l have illnstratedby plan view the way in which the plating yarn is tightly stretched between the ordinary needles, so to permit the special needles to pass in front of it. .This operation wi l be the better tinderstood by exznnining Fi 5. EL, and XIII. in Fig. XII, one of t e ordinary needles 2%), carries the plating thread against its sl'iank. A special needle '25, shown in front of this, somewhatin advance by reason of the circular disposition of the needles. As the needle Qtfldescends, the plating yarn. oeld tightly against the shank and iii; it {U NQIOZLCllQP the top of the hook of the needle 25, it retreats slightly so that at the tim the two needles are nearly on the some loves, the yarn is in the rear of point at which the curved top of the spe cial needle would throw the yarn in front.

of it instead of bel'iind;i't.

In Fig. IV, I have illustrated a stocking constructed upon the same principle as that previously described, but with this variation that certain of the stripes 50, have a breadth of three needles, while the others'fil have a ltireadih of only one needle, these stripes being in every case formed by knit ting the body yarn alone with the plating As ihe ion yarn floated behind it; all the rest of the stocking being knit. with the one yarn plated upon the other.

In Fig. Vll, l. have illustrated the application of my invention to the formation of a clock upon :i'n otherwise plain seamless stocking. For this purpose there is but one narrow stripe ($0. on the side of the leg formed as shown in Fig'lX, by knitting the body thread alone for a single needle. For the accomplishment of this the leg of the stocking is knit with ordinary solid \plziting until the course is/reuched which coincides with the upper end of the stripe 60. At this point the two needles which are to form the clocks are caused to operate as the special needles in the diagram Fig. X, causing the formation of thestripes or clocks (50, by the knitting of the body yarn alone with the plating yarn floating behind. Vihen the course is reached where the clock should end, the remainder of the tubular web is knit as ordinary plated work.

I It will of course-be understood that in this specification the terms striping and vertical-stri 'iing" are meant to include analogous figuring even though the succession of the plated and nnplated loops, course after course, is not regular as when vertical stripes in the geometrical sense are produced. The phrase vertical striping is used in this specification merely in contradistinction to horizontal striping, which is produced by a change of thread occurring after the knitting of one or more complete courses, a pro ss of knitting which has nothing in common with the process by which the hosiery described in this application is producedg' Having thus described my invention, I claim: A

1. A vertically striped seamless stocking composed of stripes of plated knitting, all ternating with stripes of plain knitting where the platingithread is floated at the back, the :tggregate width of the stripes of the plat-ed knitting being so great, in proportion to the aggregate width of the stripes of plain knitting, as to maintain the lateral elasticity of the stocking substantially un impaired.

2. A seamless circular knit, stocking ornamented by figurings of contrasting colors,-

wherein the-grohndwork fabric is of plated knitting cons sting of a body 'yarnknit with a contrastingl plating yarn on the facing and wherein the figures consist of plain knitting of the *body yarn only with the plating yarn floated behind said figures, and wherein the whole number of Wales of'ground-work in any one course so much exceeds the whole number of Wales in the figures as ,to maintain the lateral elasticity of the stocking substantially unimpaired.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto signed my name, at Allentowrc Pennsylvania, this twentieth day of March, 1511?.

EMIL A. HIRNER.

Witnesses:

Minions L. HOLLE-NSTEIIT, RUTH R. ABBOTT. 

